


Takebacks

by dimerization



Series: Royal Flush [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Destroy Ending, F/F, Femslash, Femslash Yuletide, Femslash Yuletide 14, Post-Mass Effect 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-03
Updated: 2014-12-03
Packaged: 2018-02-27 22:47:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2709500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimerization/pseuds/dimerization
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The war is over, Jack needs something to do, and Aria wants her space station back.  Maybe this time everybody goes home happy.  Well, except Cerberus, of course.</p><p>Destroy ending, Shepard survives.  Let's pretend the DLC with Aria retaking Omega never happened.  Idc if I'm swinging wide around canon here, I refuse to pay BioWare $15 for fridging Aria's ex.</p><p>For Femslash Yuletide 2014 on Tumblr - 12/2 prompt is "Holiday Traditions".</p>
            </blockquote>





	Takebacks

“ – fucking _assholes!_ Where the goddamn hell is Shepard when you need her?” Aria T'Loak glanced up from her datapad. Requisitions could wait a few minutes. Jack was stalking across the club towards the bar, Miranda Lawson easily keeping pace with the incensed biotic. Interesting that they had both survived the assault on London, Aria mused. Not that it was surprising. The Reapers had been hard put to kill them well before the battle on Earth. She was pleased to see Jack again. Aria had toyed with the idea of recruiting her during the war, but had to put most of her operations on the back burner as the conflict escalated. The human was always good for a fight, and it didn't hurt that she was easy on the eyes. Aria admired the curve of her neck and waist, eyes narrowing. Yes, she was a fun one to watch. Jack ordered a drink with a jerk of her head, not even bothering to speak to the bartender.

“Scotch rocks. Green Label,” Lawson said as Jack tossed back her shot and slapped the glass down on the bar, demanding another with a single look.

“Bastards are just taking my guys. 'We have a duty to these kids, fucking _Jacqueline' –_ scumbags.” She sneered.

“What the hell do you expect from the Alliance? They don't give a damn about their people as long as they get to follow their precious rules.”

“Shepard would have fucking torched them for this.”

“Shepard's not here.”

“You think I don't fucking know that?” Lawson rolled her eyes. Jack sipped her shot, one eyebrow raised.

“What about you then, Jack? Is anything left of your squad?”

“They offered all the older kids commissions. Rodriguez is going straight into Special Ops.”

“That's Alenko's operation, isn't it?”

“Fuck if I know. He's on leave, anyway. The minors on my team are either getting shipped off to the fucking Academy or farmed out to relatives or some shit. They offered me a rank and a goddamn security clearance.”

“And you didn't take it?” Jack guffawed.

“Like hell! They wanted to throw me in under Maj. Pretty-Boy – something about promotions and taking over his fucking teaching position. Training commissioned officers for Black Ops? Fuck  _off.”_ She drank. Lawson regarded her sardonically over the rim of her glass.

“Those idiots. You should be leading a strike team, not running a fucking boot camp.” Jack's only reply was a disgusted shrug.

“Hey, gimme another one of these.” The bartender filled her glass. “What the fuck are you doing these days, Miranda? I hear Cerberus cheerleading doesn't pay so well anymore.” The dark-haired woman sipped her Scotch.

“The Alliance owes me after this war. I think it's time to see what I can get from them. Maybe that commission they offered you is still available.”

“You don't want to be leading a fucking strike team?”

“I could use a break from risking my life every damn day. I have family to think about. And teaching doesn't sound so bad, especially not if Alenko's as pretty as you say.” Lawson smirked.

“Jesus. From what I hear he's an Alliance fuckhead with a stick up his ass. He'd probably try to save you from your secret pain or something.” Miranda looked as though she might relish the prospect of disabusing the Major of his delusions of grandeur.

“Well. That doesn't mean I can't look.”

“Hell, I'll drink to that.” Aria had never thought she'd see the day when Jack and Lawson would join each other in a toast. She shook her head. It was amazing what bureaucratic bullshit could accomplish – or fail to accomplish, as the case may be. She'd been on Sagan for a few weeks now. With the defeat of the Reapers destroying the Mass Relays and trapping most of the fleets in the Sol system, the small mining base on Venus had gone from a human-infested backwater to one of the most important locations in the area, supporting a makeshift network of shipyards and laboratories that the various armies had slapped together to get on with necessary dry dock repairs and the all-important research into fixing the Sol Relay. Fortunately, with the entire system full of debris and the combined resources of six or seven armies at their disposal, they had no shortage of materials, and the work had proceeded apace. The relay had been repaired almost two solar days ago, and it was time for Aria to leave. Sagan was even more of a pisshole than the Citadel, which had at least been comfortable before Shepard had blown it up. Even if she hadn't needed to get back to Omega, she would have been making preparations to get the hell out of this goddessforsaken system. As it stood, she had a space station to retake.

It was ironic, she thought. Tomorrow was Mughal Ras, the krogan Day of Battle, when the stupider battlemasters challenged their most “worthy” foes to duels. She'd never seen much worth in the few idiots that tried to fight her every year. There were festivals on Tuchanka to mark the day – or at least, the krogan called them festivals; Aria didn't think she'd term anything involving that many viper pits a party – but her Mughal Ras tradition boiled down to having her staff scrape the guts of a few pathetic fools off Omega's floor. Pulping whatever remained of Cerberus' occupation force should fit in nicely with that little celebration. Aria allowed herself the smallest of smirks. This holiday usually irritated her, but for once, it seemed, she was going to do glorious battle. And it looked like it wouldn't just be her staff at her back this time.

She waited for Lawson to leave before catching Jack's eye and waving the human over to her booth. There was no point in trying to recruit Miranda – she was too focused on human interests, and Aria doubted she'd be willing to leave the Sol system in any case. But Jack was another matter. She'd kept an eye on the biotic whenever their paths crossed, usually in Afterlife or Purgatory. Jack tended to drink, work, and club all at once, and her multitasking skills were impressive for a human. She was volatile, but the years had given her tight control over her fury. She still tended to explode, but, Aria suspected, only when she wanted to these days. Without her team of biotic  _wunderkinder_ tying her down, there was no reason for her to stay with the Alliance, and her own biotics were beyond impressive. Besides, she had a great ass. Aria regarded Jack coolly as the human flung herself into the seat across from her.

“T'Loak. I assume you want something?” Brash. There were few people in the galaxy who would dare speak to her like that. But credit where credit was due, Aria thought. She certainly wasn't wrong.

“I gather you want something too, Jack.”

“You making me some kind of offer to get my guys back?”

“No.” Jack scowled. “I don't feel like screwing around with Alliance Command right now. But you do have other opportunities.” The human tossed back her drink.

“I'm listening.”

“I am leaving this system tonight. I've got a little infestation to clean out on Omega.”

“Cerberus, right?” Jack's eyes narrowed. Aria gave herself three seconds to seethe. Every little rodent on her station was going to pay for the hit her credibility had taken. Nobody would have a word to say behind her back when the hull of her ship was decked out in human hide.

“Indeed.” Her voice was icy.

“You want help grinding those assholes into paste?”

“I thought you might enjoy the diversion. Killing Cerberus operatives is a hobby of yours, I gather.”

“Awful charitable of you to offer me a chance to take out your trash, T'Loak.” Aria swirled the liquor in her glass.

“You'd be compensated, of course.” Jack crossed her arms, but her eyes gleamed.

“Make me an offer.” Aria tossed a datapad across the table. Jack regarded the sum, face schooled to a practiced blankness. She looked up and Aria thought she might actually waste time trying to bargain, but Jack gave a curt nod. “I'm in,” she said.

 

#

 

Aria T'Loak was a fucking next-level bitch. Jack had never seen someone slice through red-tape bullshit so fast in her whole damn life. What the fuck was her deal, right? She had to be a matriarch, centuries old and purple and mysterious as fuck, and still with the flawless tits. I should be so lucky, Jack thought, grinning and shaking her head. Most of T'Loak's people were down in quarters, but she'd saved out a hidey-hole for the new girl. It was an empty office on the command deck, with a weapons rack and a cot crammed into one corner, and the galaxy's tiniest porthole. But it had a door that shut and its own shower, so Jack couldn't complain. Bathing with Turians got old fast. She wasn't a fan of watching aliens wash under their exoskeletons. It looked like the world's worst case of cockrot.

Jack planted her fists on her hips, looking around the little room. Weapons checked, shit stashed under the bunk, flask full, MREs in the desk for later. She was restless. The biotic snatched up her sidearm, shoved her liquor into her pocket, and decided to go for a walk. Aria's ship wasn't big, but it was fast, a sleek little asari infiltration vessel with a custom stealth system and heavily upgraded guns. The damaged Mass Relay had dumped them wide of Omega by a few lightyears, but they would be there just in time to have what remained of the occupying Cerberus forces for breakfast. Jack paced the command deck, passing wide around the lift. Most of the crew was asleep and she didn't feel much like talking. 

She ducked aft, leaning on her elbows and staring out a window at the shimmering curtain FTL travel drew between her and the stars. She never got tired of space, somehow. It was big and silent and incidentally beautiful and deadly as fuck because it just didn't give a damn. Jack sipped her whiskey. Space was honest. It wasn't manipulative, it didn't lie, it didn't jerk you around. It just killed you. She liked the straightforwardness of explosive decompression. No bullshit. One and done. Unless you were Shepard, poor bastard. She shook her head. When the Commander was back on her feet – what was left of them, anyway – Jack would have to ask her how dying again had been. Did cyber-zombies see the fucking light? Whatever.

“Enjoying the view?” Only years of practice kept Jack from blasting half the deck with her biotics. Inwardly, she cursed. T'Loak was a silent, sneaky bitch. She'd have to remember that. The matriarch leaned on the rail beside her, face unreadable.

“Mostly the quiet,” Jack said flatly. Was that a hint of a smirk?

“This should be a good fight,” said Aria.

“Yeah.”

“Looking forward to painting a few walls with Cerberus guts?”

“Always.” Jack frowned at her hands, then offered Aria her flask.

“Thanks.” Had she ever heard T'Loak say that word? Had she ever heard of T'Loak  _saying_ that word? She tried to keep her surprise from showing on her face. The asari took a swig. “Not bad.” She passed the whiskey back.

“I called in a favor for it.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I  _didn't_ crush somebody's skull in.” Aria was definitely smirking now.

“So much for your Alliance career.”

“Ha! Yeah, right. That'll be the goddamn day. Besides, it's not extortion if you're threatening extortionists.” Jack took a pull from her flask and passed it back to the asari.

“I'll drink to that.” They stood in an almost companionable silence, watching the stars pass by.

“Why'd you hire me for this, T'Loak? I mean really.” Jack leaned on the railing. “You don't need me. Your people are competent and you've got enough biotic firepower to shred a battalion.” The matriarch regarded her with those cold, blue eyes, her face giving nothing away. Two could play that game. Jack waited.

“I want you on my team. I could use your skills and I like your attitude.”

“You're the second goddamn person I've ever heard say that.”

“Who was the first?”

“Shepard.”

“Of course.”

“So that's it? You went out of your way to bring me in for a one-off raid because you're hiring? I hope you don't have any grand plans of locking me up on Omega when we're through with this, T'Loak. That tends to go pretty fucking badly.” Aria's gaze slid over Jack's skin, admiring or appraising, she wasn't sure. It made the back of her neck prickle, and not with fear.

“I'm not stupid. That much should be obvious. I've got steady work for you, if you want it. Good pay, no bureaucrats, no bullshit. The Reapers thinned my people out some. I need someone capable of protecting herself, tough, trustworthy, discreet. Someone I can work with... closely.” Her glittering eyes swept over Jack's body, and Jack did  _not_ swallow hard.

“Why would you assume I'm trustworthy? Shepard put in a good word?” T'Loak's stare was a neat trick. It felt like she was boring a hole in Jack's skull. Nice, she thought.

“You're too smart to fuck with me, Jack. I think we both know that. If you want into my organization, I'll be waiting.”

“And if I join up and later I want to walk? Am I gonna have to fight my way out?”

“Depends. You planning on selling me out?”

“Like you said, I'm a smart bitch.”

“That had better be a no.”

“Course it is. Jesus T'Loak, I thought you had a high opinion of me.”

“I do.” The matriarch held out the flask to Jack.

“Well, thanks.” Their fingers brushed as she accepted the booze.

“Think about what I said. In the meantime, I have work to do.”

“Okay.” Aria turned to go. Fuck, her ass was flawless too. Jack took another drink of whiskey, watching the asari walk away.

“Hey. T'Loak.”

“What?” She paused by the cockpit stair. Jack cursed herself for being a goddamn moron.

“Nothing.” Aria regarded her coolly for a moment, then smiled in a way that would have terrified most people. Jack watched the door hiss shut behind her, awed. She realized her mouth was hanging open and shut it with a snap. Fuck me, she thought. I never figured I'd go for an alien but fuck  _me._

 

#

 

“All right, people. This should be a quick mop-up.” The holomap of Omega rotated slowly. Her team stood in a circle around it, intent on the display as she called up data on the occupying forces and laid out their plan of attack. “We'll split into two teams. Scans are showing weapons caches here and here – looks like they've put their munitions dumps on level 15, right over Afterlife, and then a smaller arsenal down on level 4. Grizz, you take your people up through the mining facility. It'll be close quarters but I doubt these fucking indoctrinated clowns will be able to scrape up a decent resistance without the Reapers to babysit them. And I guarantee you this occupation hasn't gone too well for them.” Her turian bodyguard nodded, only the slightest flick of his mandibles betraying amusement. Omega might have surrendered without her there to break the siege, but no Cerberus fool could manage its inhabitants like Aria did.

“Jack, Marix, Ginura, you're with me.” Marix was a batarian and Aria's chief enforcer; she'd had a team of her own before Omega fell. Her people would be useful if any of them were still alive. Ginura was another turian bodyguard, grizzled, foul-mouthed, and famous on Omega for her habit of blinding overambitious would-be assassins with her talons. Her knowledge of the station's ducts and passages rivaled only that of Aria herself. The four of them should be able to dispatch anything Cerberus cared to throw at them without breaking a sweat. Hell, Aria had once watched Marix take down two heavy mechs without even emptying her clip. 

“Uresh, you're with me as well. We'll come down from the top, clear out the command center on level 16, and put the station into lockdown. Once the area's secure, I want you to deal with whatever crap Cerberus put in my systems.” Uresh was Aria's tech specialist. He was steadyhanded and closemouthed for a salarian, young but curiously intent and driven. He spoke little about his past, preferring the company of security interfaces and weapons systems to that of people, but he managed Aria's maintenance teams with a bored competence that bespoke long training. She wasn't sure how long he'd been in STG before defecting; he was only in his twenties, but she suspected he'd been making computers kill people since childhood. He nodded curtly, hands in his pockets. “If the mechs are still functional after Shepard's little stunt, activate them and send them on ahead to clear a path. Either way, we'll drive Cerberus down and take their munitions dumps. Grizz, if you find any of our people down there, bring them with you. We'll crush these maggots between us.”

“Yes ma'am.”

“Any questions?” Silence. Her people knew Omega and the enemy well enough, and had been working for her long enough, that they didn't need much information to plan an op on home turf. “All right. Let's go clean house.”

The only sounds in the shuttle bay were the rattles of her people arming up and Ginura's muttered curses. Aria checked her guns and armor one last time, grimly satisfied. Jack wasn't even bothering with armor, her tattoos vivid against the black and silver leather she wore. She was focused to a fine point, checking her guns, loading up on clips, her barrier already shimmering over her skin. The naked lust Aria had seen in her face last night was just as promising as the biotic power that burned in the air around her. Yes, this was going to be a glorious Mughal Ras.

 

#

 

Jack had always liked crushing people's skulls. The fact that they were Cerberus operatives was just gravy. She rose, blood evaporating off her skin and into smoke as she recharged her barrier. Aria was watching her with cool, blue eyes.

“Well, that's the last of 'em.”

“Let's move.” Aria's team fell in behind them as they headed for the command center. Jack rather liked the turian – she seemed to be enjoying the carnage too. The batarian struck her as a dangerous bitch, all four of those black eyes merciless and businesslike as she blasted Cerberus troopers into bloody spray with her shotgun. Jack was all about the battle rage; the ice-cold killer shtick was scary as hell, which was probably the point. Aria's little salarian brought up the rear, carrying nothing but a pistol. He was of no use when he was being shot at, but at least he knew how to keep out of the way. Jack guessed this wasn't his first infiltration. Watching him crack the lock on the command center and drop into cover without a word confirmed her suspicions.

The door opened with a hiss and a bellow of gunfire.

“Fuckers! How the fuck did they get that shit up here?” Ginura slammed a fresh clip into her assault rifle and vaulted into cover.

“Keep low!” Marix barked, taking her place beside Uresh and leaning out of the Atlas' line of fire. Aria and Jack crouched on the other side of the doorway, silent. Jack's fists were charged with biotic energy, her smile promising an ugly death to whoever tangled with her. Aria knelt beside her, reloading her machine gun, eyes glittering.

“This should be fun,” Jack said.

“I told you.”

“Motherfucker, T'Loak, you'd think I argued or something.”

“You did.”

“That was just small talk. When I argue, I flip fucking tables.” Aria looked almost amused. Good. Trying to make a fucking asari pirate queen thirty times her age laugh struck Jack as insane, but then, trying to fuck her at all was pretty crazy. She shook her head and leaned out of cover to send five or six troopers flying into the far wall. Ginura and Marix nearly had the Atlas' shields down. Competent bitches. Shepard should have recruited Aria for that Collector mission and just dispensed with all the rest. Would've been quicker, and even the Reapers wouldn't have had the balls to kill T'Loak. Nobody else did, that was for damn sure. And you could see why, Jack thought. Beside her, Aria was cracking off shots and doing something quick and focused with her biotics, so focused that for a few seconds – seven, to be precise – Jack wasn't even sure what she was up to. Then the knot of troopers behind the Atlas exploded with a roar. Aria had pulled the pins out of all their grenades.

“Nice!” Jack yelled, standing to rip a chunk of armor off the staggering mech. Marix darted in, her shotgun making quick work of the servos that powered one of its knees. Jack moved, feeling rather than seeing Marix dispatch a trooper to her right, Ginura on her left ducking as Aria sent a burst of force at the mech to knock its gun aside, and then she was on the Atlas, foot on the broken leg, then catching in the armor, lifting herself biotically as she leaped, enjoying the little swoop in her stomach that came with the rush of flight, charging a fist, and,  _wham._ She ripped the Cerberus tech bodily out of his harness and threw him, and then Aria's bolt of energy slammed into the hapless recruit and he went spinning through the air like a broken toy. Jack dropped to the floor as the Atlas came crashing down.

“Bye, bitch.” She looked around the room and saw nothing but Aria's people and bloody corpses.

“All clear,” Marix called. And then Uresh was pushing past Jack. He made quick work of the heavy shielding around the command terminals and then he was in, nodding a little to himself as the board went green one section at a time.

“Report,” Aria said.

“Mechs are still up. Munitions dumps in 15-124 and -388. System on alert; troops deployed to level 10 to hold off Grizz. Reports indicate his forces have grown.”

“Kaval and the rest of my team, probably. They're too smart to get themselves killed,” Marix said.

“Let's fucking move then. I haven't fucking gutted anyone yet.” Ginura ran a single claw down the edge of her bayonet.

“We'll take the maintenance duct. That'll drop us in 15-122.” Aria cracked her knuckles. “You good here, Uresh?”

“Will initiate lockdown as soon as you're off the level, ma'am.”

“Do it.” She strode for the door, not bothering to check if her people followed. Not  _needing_ to check, Jack thought. T'Loak was an arrogant bitch but hell if she hadn't earned it. They fell in behind her as one. The pirate queen and her goddamn honor guard, off to take back the fucking throne. Jack smirked and cocked her gun.

 

#

 

Ginura gutted one of the guards on the near munitions dump. Jack got to crush another skull. Then she turned to Aria, eyes hot, fists glittering, and they tore the third apart between them, twin warp fields peeling his flesh away into atoms while he screamed. Marix stood coolly at the door, shotgun at the ready, but no one came. Idiots. Cerberus had cleared everyone out to fight Grizz, counting on the guards and the heavy mech in the command center to protect them from the top. Aria reloaded, smiling to herself. This was going to be even easier than she'd anticipated. She glanced up to find Jack watching her.

“You want something?” Dark energy played over the human's skin, turning her into a luscious-titted wraith with a great, big gun. Aria did not allow herself to lick her lips. She hadn't fucked a human in awhile. If Jack didn't bolt...

“Just looking, T'Loak.”

“Hmm.” Aria crossed the space between them and reached out, brushing her fingertips over Jack's barrier, her biotics mingling with the human's and sending a ripple over her skin. Jack caught her breath – it was quiet, but it was there. Aria smirked.

“Move out,” she said.

They ran into some resistance in the corridors, but it was disorganized and sloppy. Aria got a burst from Uresh saying that he'd disrupted Cerberus communications – that accounted for most of it. Her opponents remained incompetent without Reapers to manage them. Idly, she wondered how in hell the Illusive Man had intended to win anything with this kind of force. He'd been taking Alliance washouts – the numbers game would only get you so far. Case in point, she thought, watching Jack vault into the middle of a Cerberus squad and send every one of them flying. Aria strolled into the fray, letting Ginura and Marix take care of the turret as she shot her way through an engineer's shields and crushed his ribcage with her fist, her barrier deflecting his wild blows. In the silence after the fight, she prodded a corpse with her toe. No lights glinted around his eyes.

“These motherfuckers were all wired up with Reaper tech,” said Jack, kneeling over another dead man.

“Whatever the fuck Shepard did must have blown it all to hell,” Ginura said, checking around the corner for more enemies. “Clear.”

“No wonder they go down so easily,” Marix muttered.

“No kidding. This is barely a workout.” Jack rose, dusting off her hands.

“Sniping pyjacks,” said Aria. “Keep moving.”

“Yes ma'am.”

There were no guards at all at the second munitions dump. Aria was actually disappointed. She had felt like killing something.

“Uresh, arsenal 2 secure.”

“Initiating lockdown,” the salarian said, his voice hissing a little over the comm.

“What's their status on levels 14 through 11?”

“No entrenchment. Small patrols. Looks like they've committed their entire force to fighting Grizz. He's winning.”

“You sure you wanna go fight these bastards? Sounds like we could stop for lunch or something,” said Jack.

“I'm in the mood to destroy people,” Aria said. Jack grinned.

“Right on.”

“Besides, it's Mughal Ras.” Ginura threw back her head and laughed. Even Marix smiled faintly.

“What the fuck is Mughal Ras?”

“It's a krogan holiday for every damn idiot who feels like getting themselves killed trying to fight me.”

“Really?”

“We celebrate by hosing their innards off the floor.”

“You sure do,” said Jack, shaking her head.

 

#

 

Blowing up barricades was  _fun_ , Jack thought. She liked the arc of the explosion, the glittering sparks, the firelight, and the way the troopers sailed through the air, screaming. They formed up in a loose diamond, Aria at their head, Ginura on her left, Jack on her right, Marix bringing up the rear, and shoulder to shoulder they sliced into the remains of Cerberus' lines from behind. The enemy had tried to entrench themselves in Afterlife and deal with Grizz's people as they came through the main entrance, but they hadn't counted on the turian's knowledge of the station, or on Aria splitting her attack. Whatever the hell those implants had been for, they were sure as shit crippled without them. A bullet grazed her thigh and she snarled, blasting a soldier off his feet and filling him with shotgun pellets before he could rise.

“So long, scumbag!” she crowed, hardly feeling her wounds through the rush of the kill. Aria was a shimmering heat ahead of her, purple and vibrant as she dispensed death with such ease that she seemed almost careless. But nobody who took down squad after squad that fast and well was unfocused, Jack knew. Aria was just that good. Goddamn, it was sexy.

“Jack! We're punching through!” They were nearly at the ruined barricade. Aria's forces were on the other side – Jack thought she could see Grizz ducking from cover to cover, giving orders. Cerberus troops were scrambling through Afterlife, trying to set up a kill zone in the gap, but they were fucked. Jack holstered her gun, biotic energy rippling over her skin.

“Now!” Aria yelled, and together they sent a blast at the gap. Bodies flew through the air.

“Again!”  _Boom._ The force of their shockwaves ripped a chunk off the top of the barricade. People screamed.

“Other side!” The heat of the biotic detonation surged through Jack like that first, burning kiss outside a bar when you finally got drunk enough that your lust boiled over, all grabbing and liquor and spit. She stood at Aria's shoulder, their barriers mingling as they watched Grizz's people surge through the hole they'd made. 

“Shit,” she said. Her whole body tingled. 

“Nice work,” said Aria. Jack looked over at her, and there it was again, those haughty, blue eyes like a touch on her skin, tracing her tattoos and the edges of her lips.

“That all you got to say, T'Loak? Nice fucking work?”

“You get paid when this is over.”

“You're a goddamn bitch, you know that?”

“Keep talking to me like that and you might get fired.”

“Hey, who says I took the job?” Jack demanded, folding her arms. Aria ran a single finger down the line of her jaw.

“I do,” she said. Oh, fuck, Jack thought. For the first time in months, she was at a loss for words. The asari looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, her fingers on Jack's chin, and then leaned forward and kissed her.

Aria's mouth was shockingly soft, her skin smoother than any human's, almost delicate compared to her queen bitch of the universe act. But shit, no, it wasn't a fucking act, Jack thought, as Aria tangled her fingers in her hair, teeth and tongue burning on her lips. Jack gasped, wrapping an arm around her armored waist and biting back, dark energy surging over her skin. Aria's nearness set both their barriers humming as they mingled; Jack could feel her biotics curling around Aria's body, shaping themselves to her tits and hips and thighs. The asari was caressing her, mass effect fields sliding like groping hands around her waist and down her ass. Jack drew back for a second to catch her breath.

“Fuck,” she panted.

“Is that a 'yes, boss'?” The heat in Aria's voice made her stomach do a somersault.

“Fuck no,” she said. “But it sure as hell is a yes.”

Grizz waited politely by the barricade, directing his people through clearing out the rest of the Cerberus troops in the club while Aria finished giving her new girlfriend a hickey in the middle of the dance floor.

 

 


End file.
